


Killing the Joker

by EasfitHadia



Category: Batman - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EasfitHadia/pseuds/EasfitHadia
Summary: Jason kills the Joker. Barbara has some opinions.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Jason Todd
Comments: 7
Kudos: 72





	Killing the Joker

“What did you do Jason?” Barbara demanded angrily, “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?” 

“I ended it,” Jason replied coldly, “Don’t tell me you didn’t want this too after everything he did to you.”

“I  _didn’t_ want this,” she told him vehemently, disgusted by the very idea. She had worked so hard to get past this. She had fought disability and won. What the hell did Jason know?

“Really?” he asked with the same cold smirk he wore when he called Bruce on his shit, “When’s the last time you missed, Barbara?”

“What?” she spluttered, “That’s not the point. How dare you?”

Who was the failure to question her? The weak one? The Joker had hurt her too but she had persevered. What was his excuse?

“Is it so wrong to want this? After everything he’s done, is it so terrible to want him dead?”

“We don’t kill, Jason.”

That’s the the rule, the line in the sand.

“Why?”

“If we kill, we’re no better than them.”

_“Why?”_ he asked again, staring her down.

“Because - Because... Because it’s against the law.”

“So is vigilantism.”

Barbara was angry, The rule was just the rule. Jason broke the rule. She was mad as hell, but she didn’t have answer.

“Exactly,” Jason replies, “There’s no substance to the rule but Bruce’s moral preference. I respect that you choose not to kill. Why can’t you respect that I choose differently?”

“Because you’re supposed to be one of us. Bruce raised you better.” It comes out asa question.

“Wonder Woman kills,” Jason told her, “Batman has killed.”

“Batman?” Barbara asked, against her better judgement.

Jason doesn’t reply, just pulls down the collar of his jacket. There, on his neck, is a long grizzly scar, slicing right across the carotid.

“What the fuck?” Barbara breathed, stepping towards Jason, “What happened.”

“I asked Bruce to choose between me and the Joker,” Jason said, “and he did.”

“Oh Jason,” she whispered, reaching out. He flinched back like she’d burned him. She dropped her hand sadly. Once, he would have sought her comfort. Now, he couldn’t stand the thought of her touch.

“If you wanted him dead, why can’t you just admit it? It’s not wrong to be angry. If it makes you feel any better, you’re not even the one who killed him.” 

“I’m supposed to be past this,” Barbara told him. “I got past this! I did the therapy! I worked so damn hard to overcome what he did to me, and then this. Am I a failure?”

“Of course not. You’re human. Why do you all think that’s such a bad thing?”

She didn’t have an answer to that either. He shook his head, turned, and walked away. 


End file.
